Garments affording protection against knocks or blows

ABSTRACT

A garment, particularly an article of clothing, that provides a wearer with a degree of environmental protection, as well as protection against knocks and blows. The garment is made from a thermal, waterproof or windproof fabric material and has one or more padded shielding region comprising a layer, or layers, of protective shock-absorbing material affixed to the garment. In certain embodiments, there are two or more layers of protective material sewn into the shielding region of the garment.

This application claims priority from and incorporates herein byreference United Kingdom Application No. 0601697.6, filed Jan. 27, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates to protective garments and in particularto garments affording protection against knocks and/or blows.

Various shields and pads are available for protection while engaging insporting activities. These shields or pads are worn over or underclothing. A number of manufacturers have tried to incorporate shields orpads into sports clothing, but the clothing is either bulky orcumbersome to wear or offers little real protection against knocks orblows. Such garments also offer little if any environmental protectionto the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the current invention to ameliorate all or at leastsome of the aforementioned shortcomings.

It is also an object of the current invention to provide an improvedprotective garment affording protection against knocks and blows.

It is yet a further object of the current invention to provide aprotective garment for a sporting activity that affords protectionagainst environmental conditions experienced during the activity, forexample, wet, windy and/or cold conditions that might be experienced bypersons engaged in sailing, windsurfing, kite boarding, skiing orsnowboarding.

According to the present invention there is provided a garment affordinga wearer of the garment protection against knocks and blows comprisingan article of clothing made from a thermal material and having two ormore layers of protective material sewn into at least one shieldingregion of the article. In certain embodiments, the article comprises twoor more layers of protective material sewn into shielding regions of thearticle.

Preferably the thermal material is one that provides a degree of thermalinsulation from one or more environmental conditions selected from agroup comprising wet (i.e., water), wind and cold.

Preferably the protective material is selected from a group comprisingEVA foam, expanded foam, 3D mesh and crush resistant closed cell foam.

Preferably each one of the two or more layers comprises a different oneof the protective materials selected from the aforementioned group.

Preferably the protective material is moulded or shaped to a bodyprofile of the wearer.

Preferably the shielded regions are one or more of the shoulders,elbows, spine, knees or posterior of the article of clothing.

Further aspects of the invention will became apparent from the followingdescription, which is given by way of example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are front and back views respectively of a protective longsleeve shirt according to the invention,

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are front, back and side views respectively ofprotective pants according to the invention.

FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are front, back and side views respectively ofprotective shorts according to the invention.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are back and front perspective views respectively of aprotective shirt and pant combination.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are perspective illustrations of layers of a protectiveshield of the garments.

FIG. 13 is an illustrative view showing; an alternative embodiment of aprotective shield.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIGS. 1 through 10, there is shown various protective garments, foruse when engaged in sports activities such as sailing windsurfing, kiteboarding, skiing, or snowboarding, comprising a garment having aplurality of padded shielding regions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, withshock-absorbing qualities (i.e. a material that has a characteristic ofabsorbing energy from knock or blows impacted on the material) forprotecting particular body pants such as shoulders, elbows, spine, kneesand posterior (buttocks) against knocks and blows sustained whileparticipating in the sports activity. In the preferred embodiment, thegarment is an undergarment designed to be worn under known sportsclothing and can be any article of clothing such as a shirt, pants (e.g.long-johns) or shorts as required. The garment is made from a martialhaving good thermal properties (i.e. a material providing a degree ofthermal insulation) such as Polartec Power Dry technical fabric; from UScompany Malden Mills.

The plurality of shielded regions 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 each comprise one ormore layers 10, 11 of specially selected materials having protectiveshock-absorbing properties. These materials may also have thermal andcomfort properties to add to the wearability of the garment. Referringto FIGS. 11 and 12, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, theshielded regions comprise an outer layer 11 of 3D Air mesh and an innerlayer 10 of perforated EVA foam. The mesh and foam materials are heatmoulded to shape and held in place by sandwiching them between the outergarment layer 9 and an inner panel of fabric 13 stitched to the outerlayer 9 around the periphery of the shielded region. In the preferredembodiment, the stitching does not penetrate through the layers ofprotective materials but is tightly positioned around the materialsfirming a snug packet between the fabric layers to hold the protectivematerials in place.

The protective materials are heat moulded to conform to the particularbody region where they are to be utilized in a shielding region. Thisensures that the protective materials and thus shielded regions are of aproper size and shape which adds to the degree of protection, comfortand wearability of the garment. Heat moulding of the garments is done inaccordance with material manufacturers recommendations. The requiredsize and shape of the protective material layers is readily determinedby the skilled addressee from body size and shape information well knownin the art of garment manufacturer and relates to the size of garmentbeing made (i.e., the size of wearer the garment is designed to fit) andthe shape profile of the body part that the shielded region is locatedto protect.

It is envisaged that some protective materials may not be mouldable andsuch materials can be cut or otherwise formed to the required size andshape in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations.

In the illustrated embodiments, the outer Polartec Power Dry layer hasoval openings exposing areas of the 3D Air mesh layer. This is done foraesthetic purposes only, has no functional purpose, and is not intendedto limit the scope of the invention.

The garment can be worm as an undergarment while participating insporting activities, such as skiing or snowboarding, for example, andhelps keep the wearer both comfortable and protected from environmentalconditions, in this case cold, and will also afford the wearer a degreeof protection against knocks and blows to vulnerable areas of the body,such as shoulders, elbows, spine, knees and posterior, if the wearerfalls or crashes.

In the above described preferred embodiment, the garment is anundergarment designed to be worn under regular sports clothing. In otherembodiments of the invention, the garment is designed as an intermediateor an outer layer garment and is made from any fabric that provides adegree of insulation from environmental conditions, such as cold, waterand wind (i.e. fabrics having thermal, waterproof and/or windproofcharacteristics) to be expected when engaging in certain sportingactivities, including but not limited to, water, wind and winter sports,and in particular extreme sports. Such suitable fabrics include, but arenot limited to, polar fleece, and merino/spandex and polyester/spandexcomposites. A composite fabric is an engineered fabric, made from two ormore components. Spandex is a manufactured elastomeric fibre that can berepeatedly stretched without breaking and will still recover to itsoriginal length. Polyester is another manufactured fibre that has highstrength, excellent resiliency, high abrasion resistance and lowabsorbency allows the fabric to dry quickly. Merino is wool that givesfabrics comfort and warmth. Polar fleece was created by Malden Mills in1979 and is a soft napped synthetic wool fabric made from PolyethyleneTerephthalate (PET) and has similar properties to wool at a faction ofthe weight.

In the preferred embodiment, the stitching does not penetrate throughthe layers of protective materials. In other embodiments it is envisagedthat the stitching penetrates one or more of the layers of protectivematerial to hold the layers more firmly in place. Additionally, thelayers may also be held together and to the fabric by an adhesive.

In the preferred embodiment, the layers of shock-absorbing material areheld in place by sandwiching them between the outer garment layer and aninner fabric panel stitched to the outer layer. In alternativeembodiments, the inner panel of fabric is stitched to the outside of thegarment or the protective layers are sewn directly into the outside orinside of the garment fabric, without sandwiching between an additionalfabric panel.

In other embodiments of the invention various other protective materialsare employed for the shielding regions. Such materials include EVA(ethylene vinyl acetate) foam, expanded foam, 3D mesh and crushresistant closed cell foam. Ethylene vinyl acetate is a mixture ofpolyethylene and vinyl acetate plastics. It is a soft foamy plastic withhigh shock absorption properties and is commonly used in the midsoles ofshoes.

It is also envisaged that in some embodiments, there may be one, two ormore layers of the protective material depending on the intended use ofthe garment and the level of knock or blow protection required. Forexample, one embodiment of the garment may be shade for recreationalsports people that participate at a modest level within a sportingactivity and another embodiment of the garment may be made for expert,professional or daredevil sports people that participate at a moreextreme level within the same sporting activity. The garment forrecreational sports people has only one or two layers of protectivematerial in shielding regions, whereas the garment for extreme ordaredevil sports people has two or three or more protective layers ineach shielded region. Additionally, certain areas of the body no morereadily knocked or are more sensitive to knocks or blows and so withinthe one garment different shielded regions may have a different numberof protective layers to give a suitable level of shock absorbingprotection for that region. For example, in some embodiment of theinvention, garments have multiple layers comprising perforated EVA foam& Air Mesh in shielding regions at the spine, posterior, elbow,shoulders and knees, and a single layer of perforated impact foam inshielding regions at the thigh, hip, shoulder blades and neck.

It is also envisaged that where two or more layers are used in oneshielding region, then each layer will comprise a different one of theprotective materials selected from the aforementioned group providingits own unique form of protection. However, even where: multiple layersof a single material are used comfort and protection are improved over asingle thinner layer of material. Regions of thinner layered materialsare more easily conformed to the body shape for comfort and absorbgreater amounts of impact energy through contact surfaces betweenlayers.

An example only of an alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 13.The shielded regions have an additional middle layer 12 of crushresistant closed cell foam for additional protection. The foam consistsof polyethylene or polypropylene in an elastic adhesive. A typicalexample is Brock Foam from Brock USA (www.brockusa.com). The foam isalso heat moulded to shape and located between the fabric layers withthe EVA foam and 3D mesh layers.

It should be appreciated that modifications and alternations obvious tothose skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope ofthe present invention. For example, the description refers to fabricthat provides a degree of insulation from environmental conditions suchas water, wind and cold. Many such fabrics are known and can be employedin the invention. However, this is not meant to limit the scope of useof the invention. It is envisaged that future fabrics may have superiorthermal, waterproof and/or windproof characteristics to those currentlyknown and such new fabrics can readily be employed in the currentinvention.

Additionally, the above description also refers to various protectivematerials having shock-absorbing properties. This is again not meant tolimit the scope of the invention. This list comprises only the mostsuitable shock-absorbing materials known to and used by the applicant atthe time of preparing this application. Many other such materials areknown and can be employed in the invention. It is also envisaged thatfuture materials may be developed that are thinner or more flexible orhave superior shock absorbing properties to those currently known andsuch new materials can readily be employed in the current invention.

It is also envisaged that garments according to this invention may findapplication in many other less extreme and/or conventional sports thanthose mentioned above in the description. For example, the invention mayprovide garments for rugby, soccer and like winter contact sports oreven summer sports. One example is, say, batsman's clothing for cricketin which the garment is designed to be worn as a single layer and hasshielded regions located in the forearms, leg, thigh and groin areas ofthe clothing articles. The batsman's garment is made from a fabrichaving thermal characteristics aimed at keep the batsman cool and dry onhot days. The advantage of the invention in this application is that thebatsman is afforded a greater level of both environmental and impactprotection than provided by his regular batting attire without addingunduly to its bulkiness or discomfort.

While the systems and methods of this invention have been described interms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill inthe art that variations may be applied to the systems, methods, and inthe steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described hereinwithout departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention.More specifically, it will be apparent that certain materials that areboth functionally and mechanically related might be substituted for thematerials described herein while the same or similar results would beachieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications to thoseskilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and conceptof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A garment affording a wearer of the garment protection against knocksand blows comprising an article of clothing made from a thermal materialand having two or more layers of protective material sewn into at leastone shielding region of the article.
 2. The garment of claim 1 whereinthe thermal material is one that provides a degree of thermal insulationfrom one or more environmental conditions selected from a groupcomprising water, wind and cold.
 3. A garment affording a wearer of thegarment protection against knocks and blows comprising an article ofclothing made from a fabric having one or more of thermal, waterproofand/or windproof characteristics, and the article of clothing having oneor more protective shielding regions comprising one or more layers of ashock absorbing material sewn into the article of clothing.
 4. Thegarment of claim 3 wherein the layers of protective material are sewninto a plurality of shielding regions of the article.
 5. The garment ofclaim 3 wherein the shielding regions are one or more of a shoulders,elbows, spine, knees or posterior of the article of clothing.
 6. Thegarment of claim 3 comprising two or more layers of the protectivematerial, wherein the protective material is selected from a groupcomprising EVA, foam, expanded foam, 3D mesh and crush resistant closedcell foam.
 7. The garment of claim 6 wherein each one of the two or morelayers comprises a different one of the protective materials selectedfrom the group
 8. The garment of claim 6 wherein the two or more layerscomprise one layer of crush resistant closed cell foam.
 9. The garmentof claim 3 wherein the protective material is moulded or shaped to abody profile of the wearer.
 10. A garment comprising a body of thermallyinsulating material, and at least one shielding portion attached to thebody so as to provide protection against knocks and blows, wherein theshielding portion comprises at least two layers of protective material.11. The garment of claim 10 wherein the at least one shielding portionis stitched to the body.
 12. The garment of claim 10 wherein the atleast two layers comprise a layer of mesh.
 13. The garment of claim 10wherein the at least two layers comprise a layer of foam.
 14. Thegarment of claim 10 wherein the at least two layers comprise a layer ofperforated form.